ESPN put Caitlin Clark at No. 15 in WNBA rankings

With the second half of the season starting tomorrow, ESPN released a ranking of the top 25 WNBA players in the league right now. Rookie Caitlin Clark can be found at No. 15 on the list, which is pretty great for someone in her first year in the pros. It's an impressive start, and it's been fun to watch. One can expect that she'll continue to climb this ranking as the seasons go by.

Caitlin Clark's contributions to the Indiana Fever

Photo byKylie OsullivanonUnsplash

Clark hasn't just shown how incredible of a player she is on her own. She's also proven every single game that she's here to play team basketball. This is a pretty big plus for a player in the WNBA, as it's a lot more passing and moving in comparison to the NBA. She leads the team in assists with 8.2 per game and continues to be an absolute machine in the category. On July 17th she broke the record for most assists in a single game with a whopping 19.

Not only was it a great night for her in assists, but she also had 24 points to earn herself a double-double. She has had some off-scoring nights where she only hits a single three and struggles to get hot, but as time passes, this is getting rarer and rarer. She's now keeping pace and slowly passing by the rest of the league, just like she did in college.

The names ahead of her

Obviously, players like A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Napheesa Collier are in a league of their own. That's why they sit at numbers one, two, and three on this list. Clark shouldn't be worried about passing them right now, especially Stewart and Wilson, who are bigs.

Instead, the rookie can keep her eyes on Jewell Lloyd, Arike Ogunbowale, and Ezi Magbegor, who all sit directly in front of her at 14, 13, and 12. These are players who she can realistically overtake before the season ends. She has Lloyd beat in every category outside of scoring, and the same goes for Ogunbowale. On the flip side, she had Magbegor beat in scoring and assists, but not rebounds.

If Clark can push the Fever a little bit further this season, expect her to easily pass Lloyd on this list. This season, the Seattle Storm guard has been struggling to get a bucket from three, shooting just 26%. Her efficiency has been down all season and it's caused her points per game to slowly drop.

Ogunbowale has been a scoring machine so passing her might not be doable unless Clark starts catching fire every game. The issue with passing Magbegor is she's a much for defensive-minded player. She takes care of the paint and does the dirty work on the boards. However, there is a big chance that by next season, we'll see Clark in the top ten in the league conversation.

What to expect in the second half

The Indiana Fever is in a bit of a tricky position right now. The top eight teams, no matter the conference, are the ones that will advance to the playoffs. The Fever sits at number seven. Behind them is the Chicago Sky at eight and the Atlanta Dream at number nine.

The Fever can relax a bit knowing the Dream are four games behind them, but the Sky are just one back. If they fall into eighth, they'll still make the playoffs, but nobody wants to be sitting on the bubble. There are some tough games on the horizon for them against teams that sit in the top five. However, they've already managed to get some great wins against teams like the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty. It will be an interesting sprint to the finish.

Article originally written by Elizabeth Della Piana